CHERRYVILLE — Noticing that Chase approached triple figures in the semifinals of the Bud Black/Dennis Tate Holiday Classic, Bessemer City coach Danny McDowell knew what his team needed to do in the championship: play some defense.

The players responded as Bessemer City held Chase to less than half of its semifinal total and won 64-43 on Saturday for its first championship in the annual event at Cherryville’s Nixon Gym.

“Defense won this thing. Every day was defense,” McDowell said. “Those guys scored 95 points or something like that last night and I knew we couldn’t afford to give up 95 points or we’d lose. So we concentrated on the defensive end. I thought our guards did exceptionally well on those guards out front.”

The Yellow Jackets’ Brad James had 16 points and 16 rebounds and Michael Meeks scored 19 on their way to sharing most valuable player honors.

“Teamwork,” Meeks said of the key to the championship victory. “We didn’t hang our head after every missed play. We played as a team.”

Bessemer City was playing in the tournament championship for the first time.

“The kids played well,” McDowell said. “It means so much because the boys have never made it to the finals. To win it, that’s a great accomplishment for the school, for the kids and everybody. I’m just tickled pink for these guys.”

Bessemer City led 25-20 at the break and started pulling away in the third quarter, taking a 45-32 lead into the final period.

Ronnie Webber had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Tyrece Meeks dished eight assists for Bessemer City (8-1), which hasn’t lost since its season opener.

In addition to the MVP award shared by Michael Meeks and James, Bessemer City placed Tyrece Meeks, Jha’Qui Adams, Trevon Oglesby and Webber on the all-tournament team.

“It’s crazy. We haven’t had anything like this in a long time,” James said.

Bessemer City will host Davidson Community on Wednesday before turning its focus back to conference play. The Yellow Jackets travel to East Lincoln on Friday in a battle of teams that are 2-0 in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference.

Steven Holland scored 14 points and Shad Blanton added 10 points for Chase (8-4), which had advanced a night earlier with a 92-85 win over Cherryville.